Sunday, December 16, 2007

Decadent Chocolate Fondant with Raspberry Coulis

A couple of people have asked me this week why I don't have more cookie or cake recipes on my blog. They're right, for someone who always has room for dessert after stuffing herself with a main course meal, I seem to be neglecting my baking skills. I love sweets but not the kind that are too sweet, like pecan pies or brownies. Why add a ton of sugar to a brownie when you can't taste the chocolate? Might as well eat a bowl of just sugar.

For a long time, I was looking for a simple recipe of a "Chocolat Fondant" cake after having savoured one in a renowned Montreal restaurant called "Chez Alexandre". That cake literally gave me a food orgasm. Every morsel was exquisite. The best part of this dessert is the melted dark chocolate sauce oozing from the center of the cake, like molten lava from a hot volcano.

Finally, I found a very simple recipe which I followed to a tee the first time I made it a month ago. To no surprise, the cake turned out overly sweet for my taste. A real chocolate lover would agree with me that the main criteria for a successful chocolate cake is for it to taste chocolatey. So, for this second attempt, I cut down on the sugar and added less flour to have that molten chocolate texture in the center.

Chop the chocolate in small pieces and melt it in a “bain-marie” or a double-boiler. Stir for about 5 minutes with a whisk until nicely melted.

With a whisk mix the softened butter and sugar until well blended. While whisking, add one egg at a time to the mixture. Then add in the flour and whisk until you reach a thick velvety texture.

Slowly add in mixture the melted chocolate with the help of a spatula until the chocolate is well incorporated into the batter and until you reach a nice creamy velvety texture.

Add in about 4 tbsps of the cake batter into the ramequins or until each ramequin is 3/4 full.

Bake no more than 20 minutes, as you want that smooth, velvety and molten chocolate texture in the center. Check with a tooth pick once in a while. You know it's done when the outside of the cake is baked and the toothpick comes out slightly wet.

The beauty of this dessert is that you can prepare it in advance, set the batter in the ramequins and put them in the freezer. It's perfect for unexpected guests, just take the ramequins out of the freezer for at least 30 minutes, preheat the oven, bake and serve.

There is no better way to enjoy this indulgent and decadent dessert than to serve it warm with the Raspberry Coulis, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzle a dash of your favourite liquor, like rum or cognac...mmmhh